We met up with Fuel Games, developers of Vans SK8: Pool Service, at WWDC to hear about their upcoming games. We got our hands on the action-puzzler Lifeboat, and also learned about Fuel’s iPhone port of Desktop Tower Defense. Details and video within!

After a strong start with Vans SK8, Fuel Games is clearly no sinking ship, despite Lifeboat’s setting–a foundering ferry called the S.S. Anchor that’s completely dead in the water.

It’s every man for himself as you try to herd the passengers into lifeboats before the whole shebang goes under. This is accomplished by tilting the phone, causing the tiny victims to tumble downhill into the lifeboats.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, if you’ll forgive the pun. The lifeboats don’t stick around forever–they’re timed, and they’ll depart without anyone on them if you wait too long. Meanwhile, passengers can get stuck in smokestacks or spill into the drink, requiring a quick touch and drag to get back on track.

This kind of coordination, management and triage is not unlike what we experienced in Flight Control. But the game’s main draw is its sense of humor. The flailing passengers crack wise as they abandon ship and spill into the water (“Does anybody have any soap?!”), and there are humorous cutscenes between levels, too.

Lifeboat should reach the App Store in 3-4 weeks, at a tentative price of $1.99 to $2.99.

Fuel Games also told us about its upcoming port of Desktop Tower Defense, which was not ready to show just yet (it’s due out later this summer).

Fuel is working directly with Paul Preece of Handdrawn Games, the guy who put together the original Flash game that launched the entire TD genre.

According to Fuel, the game will feature updated graphics, 15-20 “fun” modes, 15-20 “tower” modes, and other “unique iPhone features” that they were not prepared to discuss.

Desktop Tower Defense obviously has a huge following, so we’ll keep a close eye on this one to see how it develops.

We sat down with a representative from Freeverse to check out the publisher’s upcoming lineup. We saw Flick Baseball, the newest game in the Flick Sports collection; Trackz, an app for model train enthusiasts; Warpgate, a very cool-looking space trading game; and Warpack: Grunts, an intriguing top-down shooter. Details and video after the jump! (more…)

We just got off the phone with legendary developer John Carmack of id Software, who gave us the official scoop on the House of Doom’s new iPhone project, Doom Resurrection. We’ve got all the juicy details and screens right after the jump! (more…)

We’ve never seen such a strange lineup in one demo before. On iPhone, I-Play has something coming for the sports fan (Pool Star featuring Earl Strickland), casual gamer (Jewel Quest Deluxe), wedding-obsessed (Dream Day Wedding), and even disgruntled workers (Blend the Boss). (more…)

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Industrial Toys has released it’s follow-up to the great Midnight Star. In Renegade, a much more casual game, the focus is on short bursts of play and the never-ending constant upgrading of weapons and gear. This game brings the great controls for a mobile FPS that the previous version had, but focuses less on the story and more on the frantic gameplay.

Heroes of Loot 2 is an update to the original that brings even more to love of the original. This time around the player chooses two player types to take into the dungeon, switching between them in the game as needed.

Heroes of Loot 2 is 50% off right now for launch.

After their job, of keeping the dungeons in balance, was done, our heroes needed a new job. Roaming the lands they found a call for heroes, a castle in need, possible even a damsel in distress?

Pick two heroes to take into the adventure, controlling both heroes and using their special skills to navigate the dangerous castle hallways, rooms and floors. Switching between the two characters to solve quests, puzzles, and of course clear the dungeons of all evil.

Human Resources Corporation, from some of the same fine folks that brought us World of Goo is a puzzle games that makes some of the basics of programming into a fun little exercise.

The premise is that the player is a new recruit in a corporation that need to tell other in game characters how to move and act by giving a set of program commands to complete tasks. It’s a great introduction to the logic used in programming and a fun little game with great personality. Which is expected considering the team that created this.

Temple Run 2 has done it again. Expanded into a whole new world with the Blazing Sands expansion. Available now in the game.

Touch Arcade notes:

It’s called “Blazing Sands,” and as you can see from the above trailer, you’ll be running through canyons along side raging rapids and Egyptian-y looking statues while marauding vines are smacking you in the face… Which really isn’t much of a surprise as vines in video games seem to be jerks almost 100% of the time. Of course there’s new stuff to unlock too between new outfits and Blazing Sands artifacts. If you collect ’em all, you’ll even get a swanky new hat.

From Martin Magni, the developer of the great Odd Bot Out, Mekorama hit the App Store this week. This charming puzzle game has the player guide a robot through a series of very unique 3D puzzles. The puzzles have shades of Monument Valley without the Escher inspired vibe.

One of the features that really sets this game apart from others is the integrated level editor. This lets players create their own levels and share them via a simple QR code integrated image. Take a look at the new levels shared on Twitter with the #Mekorama hashtag. I’ve even created one to test the path finding skills of that little robot.

Mekorama is free in the App Store with a pay what you want price model.

There have been a lot of games that have aped the style of Monument Valley, but not that have really gotten the idea and complexity of the game. That is until Evo Explores. Evo Explores really understand the game and does a great job of adding puzzle types to the original that it unashamedly takes inspiration from. It’s so good that members of the Monument Valley team have remarked how impressed they are.

But beside that, the game can stand on its own as well. It’s a great suspension of belief type puzzler with new and interesting mechanics and is just plain fun. The story that goes along is a little weak, but then again that’s just a small part of the game. Well worth a download.

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